Many in Spain have come to know Raye through a curious shortcut, almost by chance: Where Is My Husband! sung by Olivia, the second-place finisher of Operación Triunfo 2025. The question that gives the song its title, released almost as an intimate reproach, had something of an old pop wound: direct, uncomfortable, impossible to ignore. And it hasn't been ignored. The song has already accumulated nearly 330 million streams and has been at the top of the global charts for months.
Behind it is Rachel Agatha Keen, known as Raye (London, 1997). An artist who started writing songs before being old enough to enter a club and is set to make a breakthrough in 2026. For a long time, she was a secondary presence in British pop: a recognizable voice in successful collaborations with Jonas Blue or David Guetta, a recurring name in credits while the spotlight was on someone else. She wrote After the Afterparty for Charli XCX and Bigger for Beyoncé. Her career was progressing, yes, but always with a sense of restraint within the industry.
This wear and tear led to a break. After years with Polydor Records, a record label that asked for singles but denied her own album, Raye decided to leave and start over. It was a practical decision to regain creative control of her music, which flows smoothly between pop, R&B, soul, and jazz, with no intention of fitting into a specific formula or commercial melody. Her lyrics contain flashes of irony and dark humor when addressing both romantic relationships and the power dynamics of the music industry.
"I've had many albums stored in folders gathering dust, songs that I am now giving to top artists because I am still waiting for confirmation that I am good enough to release my own album," she vented in a Twitter thread in June 2021.
The result was My 21st Century Blues (2023), a debut built as an emotional archive of the last years of her life: anxiety, failed relationships, professional pressure, guilt, desire to escape. Nothing is embellished, everything is told with a discomfiting frankness. In Ice Cream Man she recounts how she faced a sexual abuse episode; in Body Dysmorphia she acknowledges suffering from eating disorders from a young age.
Due to this authenticity, among other things, the album did not seem designed for massive success. But Escapism, one of her rawest songs, grew on TikTok to become a global phenomenon. From there, the narrative changed very quickly, as almost everything does in these times: awards, headlines, critical acclaim. Even the media promise of becoming the new Amy Winehouse.
At the 2024 Brit Awards, Raye made history by winning six awards, a record that confirmed her status as a rising star. She was also nominated at the 2025 Grammys for best new artist, songwriter of the year, and best album arrangement. She didn't win any awards then, but she could at this year's ceremony.
Meanwhile, the British artist is preparing her second album and a 40-date tour across Europe and North America. Regarding the former, its release was scheduled for late 2024, until bad luck intervened: her car was stolen with all the new compositions inside, without a digital copy, forcing the album to be postponed indefinitely. The vehicle reappeared months later with scores and lyrics intact. Something is better than nothing. As for the latter, the only stop of This Tour May Contain New Music in Spain will be on February 13 at the Palau Sant Jordi.
Although Where Is My Husband! has served as an entry point for many, it doesn't explain everything. Sometimes, the songs arrive before the answers. Because Raye doesn't land as a sudden revelation, but as the logical conclusion of a career that had been building out of sync. We will see what this year holds for her.